Readers Report
This site is fantastic for us Brooklyn fans. Although I've written to share my memories once before, I would now like to contact some former neighbors. We lived in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn in a cold water flat at 178 Stockton St. Our neighbors were the Berkhemers (Carol, Barbara and Johnny). If anyone out there know of the Berkhemers, please relay this message as I would like to hear from them for old time's sake. In the meantime I continue to enjoy reading the letters and sharing the wonderful memories of Brooklyn.
I'm probably the oldest on the site. My name is Irving Friend and I was born in 1924 and moved to Brooklyn in 1927. I lived in Ridgewood, Brownsville and Crown Heights.
Act 1: riding down Hart St. age three on my tricycle, no rubber—just rims. (We were too poor for a new bike.) Sidewalks were granite slabs and the sound of the metal rims over the uneven surfaces still ring in my ears.
Act 2: Crown Heights on Union St., punch ball in the gutter, waiting for the few cars to pass, punching a sewer or more. At night playing ring a leavio and three feet off. I could go on and on—handball at Lincoln Terrace Park when there was only one court of wood. The Utica Theatre for 10 cents! More later . . .
26 February 2001
Hi. I'm probably the oldest living alumnus of Brooklyn. I was born in the Bronx in 1924. At the age of three we moved to 54 Hart Street between Marcy and Tomkins Aves. I recall speeding around the block on my second-hand tricycle (no rubber wheels) past the Tomkins Theatre and around Pulaski St. I went to public school on Nostrand Ave. (kindergarten) but never finished. We moved to 1574 Union St. near Troy Ave. in 1930.
My best friend was Georgie Feldman and we'd challenge each to a race around the block starting at a lamppost and running in opposite directions. I attended P.S. 167 on Eastern Parkway. Mr. Lodato was the principal. We played ball in the schoolyard. I sang in the chorus at Christmas—Christmas carols. I graduated in January 1938 and went to Erasmus. The first term, due to overcrowding in the main bldg., was at an elementary school at Lenox Road and Albany Ave.
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